Nothing On Earth

Chapter 6

Lily walked into the sunlight that was shining onto the enclosed promenade deck. She felt as though she hadn't felt the sun in years, and the cool sea breeze was a welcome relief from the stuffiness that the dinning saloon had instilled in her.

The clock above the Grand Staircase had read ten forty-five when Lily passed it on her way to the outside decks. It had taken her a long time to convince herself that James Potter wasn't going to laugh at her if she came down to talk him. Now, as she neared the steerage entrance, she just hoped that he wouldn't get angry about her invading his space, as she knew a lot of the lower class tended to do.

Her walk and stature were filled with a sense of purpose as she unlatched the gate and walked down the staircase for the second time this voyage. She ignored the steerage men gawping at her, and kept her head held high as she looked for the entrance to the inside of the steerage area.

She spotted it at once, but didn't go toward it immediately. She still had to figure out how to get to the steerage general area, and it would do her no good to wander around in an unfamiliar area for hours at a time. She was horrible with directions, and got lost quite easily. She was still amazed that she had actually remembered how to get out onto the promenade deck from the dinning saloon accurately.

She glanced around the deck, looking for a stray steward among the steerage men. They were still staring at her with looks of disbelief, and she was starting to feel uncomfortable. Before too long, however, she spotted a crisp, white shirt near the fantail staircase, and she hurried over, walking as fast as her heels would allow her to.

The steward was assisting some of the crew with what Lily supposed was preparations for the oncoming stop at Queenstown. She waited for a few minutes until he was done before approaching him. Lower class stewards were generally testier than first class ones, as she had learned from previous voyages.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The steward looked behind him, startled to hear such a cultured voice in this area of the ship. He was probably only a few years older than her - like almost everyone in the lower classes seemed to be - and seemed to be good disposition at the moment. He squinted at her for a moment before asking in a slightly squeaky voice, "Can I help you, miss? Are you lost?"

"I'm not lost yet, anyway," Lily replied, deciding to be honest. "I just need to know how to get to the steerage general room."

Instead of immediately jumping to her rescue - which she had been quite hoping for - the steward frowned and narrowed his watery blue eyes at her. "I know it's my duty as an employee of White Star Line to comply to your wishes, but I'm afraid I must refuse."

"What?" she asked, her confidence faltering slightly. "Why not?"

"Because whenever a first class passenger such as yourself comes down here, all you usually want to do is mock and treat the third class passengers like animals in a zoo. As it's my duty to make sure they - not you - are comfortable and enjoy this voyage, and I'm afraid that allowing you to invade their area would cause them to be quite uncomfortable. I'm sorry I can't be any service to you."

He turned on his heel and began walking toward the fantail staircase, faster than Lily had imagined a pudgy man like himself could go. She hurriedly walked after him, trying to regain some of her composure.

"Wait! I didn't come down here to mock anyone! I'm looking for someone - perhaps you know of him - James Potter?"

The steward froze, and turned around to face her. He glanced at her again, as if re-evaluating her intentions, before speaking again, "What do you want with James?"

"So you do know him after all!" she exclaimed, delighted. This would make her search much easier, provided this steward would help her out.

"He's a good friend of mine, and I would like to know what you want with him. James has got enough to worry about without you mucking things up with your curiosity about the lower class."

Lily was taken aback by his cold tone, and then it occurred to her that she might've seen this steward before. Not on another steamer, but somewhere beforehand...

"Well? If you can't come up with a good reason for me to let you see James, then I'll be on my way - "

"Mr. Potter was a great help to me last night," she interrupted, annoyed with the steward's suspicion. He arched an eyebrow disbelievingly at her. "What he helped me with is none of your business, as it was a rather personal matter."

He glared at her again, and without saying a word, he began walking toward the staircase again. Lily fumed - why couldn't Bill Weasley have been out on deck instead of this great prat? But she wasn't about ready to give up on him, so she followed after him, deciding - against her better judgment - to use her trump card.

"Fine! I don't need your help!" she said, her voice rising to a shout as he hurriedly pounded up the steps to get away from her. "I'll just find another steward - one who's willing to help Lucius Malfoy's fiancée!"

That did the trick, as it always did. That was one of the good things that came from her engagement; the Malfoy named was greatly respected - although nowadays it was greatly feared more than respected - in Britain, and once people learned that she was to be married to one of the most dangerous men in all of Europe, things went her way.

Such was the case with this steward. The instant he heard that name, he turned around and ran down the stairs so fast that he nearly tripped. Panting, he looked at her, recognition replacing suspicion in his eyes now.

"Suh - So...sorry, Miss Eh-Evans...I didn't know..."

Lily was the one doing the eyebrow raising now. How could he not know who she was? Her face had been plastered in the newspapers months ago when the news of concrete wedding plans began to hit the rumour cycles. Of course, not many people would recognise her without her infamous scowl on her face, and her infamous fiancée at her side.

"I'd be happy to show you where James is...Or could be at the moment. Please, follow me."

As Lily began to follow the steward once again, she had no way in knowing that letting this steward learn her identity would end up being one of the biggest mistakes of her life.

***

The first thing that James saw when he wandered into the general room at around ten thirty was the blonde Swedish - or Norwegian; Remus still wasn't sure what nationality she was - girl (that his friend was so infatuated with). The second thing he noticed was that Sirius Black - ladies man extraordinaire - was chatting her up.

The whole thing might have been quite comical (for Sirius was pulling out all the stops for a girl who probably didn't understand half of what he was saying) if Remus hadn't seen them too, and promptly marched over to them to give the other man a piece of his mind (or fist).

The two of them got started on their second row for the day, but it wasn't quite as bad as the other one - if you didn't count the part when James got hit in the face with someone's shoe when he tried to come between them, that is. Sigrid had eventually intervened (after she realized they were fighting over her) and she pulled Remus to the other side of the general room, while James did likewise with Sirius.

"Hold that pose for a bit - It'd look great as a portrait."

Jack-the-bloody-American-Dawson had pulled out a tattered sketchpad and was grinning at him over the top of it from across the table they were sitting at. James glanced exasperatedly at him, rubbing the sore side of his face where the shoe had hit. He was quite sure that he was going to have a black eye come dinnertime.

"I think I'll call it, 'Portrait of a Beaten Brit'."

"Very funny, Dawson," James replied, glaring at him. Jack was going to have a black eye of his own if he didn't shut his mouth soon. "What're you doing over here anyway? Where's your Italian friend?"

"Fabrizio's around," Jack replied, waving a hand casually. "He'll come back some time soon...I was only over here because your friend wanted to see my drawings. He's says that they're pretty good."

"They are," Sirius replied, seemingly done with his sulk for the moment, and back to his cheerful nature. He loved art, if James remembered correctly. "I know some art dealers back in London who'd be interested in your work."

Jack looked up from his sketchpad and glanced at Sirius curiously, as if realizing for the first time that he wasn't a third class passenger. He pondered this offer for a moment, and then shook his head.

"No thanks. I haven't had much luck with art dealers in the past, and I've been making money with my drawings just fine for the last few years. Thanks for the offer though."

"All right then. Just thought I'd offer," Sirius said with a shrug. He glanced at James for a moment, grinned, and turned back to Jack. "How much do you charge for a portrait? I'd rather like to buy your one of Prongs over here once it's finished. I think it'd liven the sitting room up in Grimmauld Place splendidly."

"Have your fun now, Padfoot, but just you wait until you're the one getting hit with a shoe. I'm not going to even bother to get between you and Moony if you keep this up again," James replied, scowling at his friend.

"Speaking of Moony, what has gotten into him lately?"

"What do you mean?" James replied, raising an eyebrow curiously. He, of course, had been living with Remus for ages, and had only just begun to notice the personality changes in his friend. If Sirius noticed the changes that fast, then they might've been bigger than he had first thought.

"How can you not have noticed? He's become a regular hothead!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Like you?" James questioned, failing to resist the urge to have a jab at his friend.

"Well, yes - No!" Sirius corrected hastily. "What I meant was that he's always blowing up at somebody now, and that somebody just happens to be me!"

"He only blew up at you now because you were chatting up Sigrid, the girl he happens to fancy. And we both know what happened that last time you chatted up a girl he had his eye on - "

"That was an accident! Besides, it only happened once. " Sirius interrupted, knowing the event to which he was referring to. James shot him a pointed look. "All right, all right...Maybe it happened more than once - "

"We found you snogging his fiancée a week before their wedding!"

"That wasn't completely my fault...She was with Prewett's younger brother the week before." Sirius puffed, turning his attention to his nails rather than to James's face. His voice did hold something resembling remorse in it, but before his friend could remind him of his history with Remus's other girlfriends, he quickly changed the subject. "Well, that explains part of the problem...But hasn't he seemed more testy than usual to you? I'll just say something - like this morning - and he'll take it the wrong way!"

"Well, you should've been more careful above decks, talking to Peter like you did," James began, waiting for Sirius to let out his groan of annoyance before continuing on. "I'm not saying what you did was wrong, I'm just saying that you should've been more careful. There's a difference. Besides, I'm glad you told Peter; now he won't be begging me for information on what we're doing every time we meet in the corridors."

"He still hasn't grown out of that?"

"Don't think so...Anyway, I think Moony's just a bit stressed. You know with work, our move, and - " He glanced hastily at Jack, dropping his voice to a whisper as he went on. Though he seemed busy drawing the two of them, he still could pick up on more than he needed to hear. " - Order business. Dumbledore's been running him ragged; he's been up and out at all hours of the night for the past few weeks, doing all sorts of things. 'Course, he can't tell me exactly what he's been up to since it's some of those 'important' missions."

"The ones we're not supposed to know anything about?" Sirius responded, and James nodded. "How come Remus gets to go on those while we're stuck doing guard duty or paper work?"

"Probably because Dumbledore thinks he's more responsible than us," James muttered darkly, glancing over at Remus again. "Which we both know is more than true."

Sirius stayed silent for a few moments, seemingly pondering over this new bit of information about Remus, before he asked slowly, "...Does he always tell you that he goes out for Order business?"

"Eh...It depends. Usually I just take a guess at what he's been doing...Why do you ask?" Sirius shrugged carelessly, but James knew the look on his face and the tone he had used all too well. "Sirius, are you suggesting that...Moony's the leak?"

"It's a possibility," Sirius responded coolly, though he shifted uncomfortably under James's scrutinizing gaze. "You said he was up at night a lot, and that you don't even know what he does most of the time - "

"Come off it, you prat! Can you honestly believe that Remus Lupin would spy on the Order for that evil bastard Riddle?" James asked, reaching into his pocket to pull out his cigarettes. He had thought sea voyages were supposed to relieve your stress, not increase it. The rest of his pack would be gone by tonight if things kept progressing the way they were now. "You're just upset because he called you the spy earlier."

Sirius snorted in disbelief, but left the subject at that. He obviously remembered how James reacted the last time Prewett had stuck his big nose in James's business and called one of his friends a spy. After all, that had been the reason why Dumbledore had assigned them to this mundane mission in the first place, and decided to make them head of the Order headquarters in New York, where Death Eaters were few to none. At least they had gotten a pleasant sea trip out of the deal.

"While we're on the topic of spying, how come you're down here instead of with Malfoy and Riddle? You better not be skiving off your duties this early on or Moony will be all over you when he finds out," James said.

"No, I'm not skiving off," Sirius replied, sounding offended. "Malfoy let me follow him around for about an hour before telling me that - while it was wonderful that I finally chose the right side - he did not want to see my ugly mug more than necessary."

"Did he really said that?"

"Everything except the 'ugly mug' part. I made that up, but I could tell he was thinking it - "

James rolled his eyes, perched his cigarette between his lips, and successfully tuned Sirius out. He chewed on the end of the cigarette for a bit, deciding that it'd be wise to light it a bit later; Jack was giving him (or something behind him) a very funny look, and in case he decided to make some smart-arse comment, James didn't want to be held responsible for any burns on himself or the American.

" - it's common knowledge that the Blacks are a very good looking family, so if he really wanted to insult me, he should've said I was ugly, because it would've hurt more than - "

"Didn't Malfoy fancy one of your cousins a while back?" James interrupted, eager to get Sirius away from the topic of his family's looks.

"If he's fancied one, he's fancied them all," Sirius replied with exasperation. He turned around in his seat, facing the crowd rather than the other side of the table. Jack's unrelenting funny look (he looked as though he wanted to say something, drop his jaw down in surprise, or raise an eyebrow coolly all at the same time) was probably making him feel uncomfortable. "He and Bellatrix had courted for a bit, and I know Narcissa had her eye on him. They probably would've started courting if he hadn't got himself engaged to - " Sirius stopped mid-sentence, suddenly becoming interested in something going on behind James.

Before James could even inquire what had caught his attention, Sirius's jaw opened slightly and his eyes widened in shock. James stared at him for a moment, wondering if he had caught whatever facial disease Jack had at the moment, but before he could ask, Sirius whispered, "It's Lily! She's down here, Prongs!"

"What?" James hissed back, his eyes widening too. "You can't be - pardon the pun - serious! What's she doing down here? Are you sure?"

Sirius looked back at him, his eyes mirroring the surprise that James knew must have been showing on his face. Hadn't they just been hypothesizing that she might come visit only hours ago? Neither of them had expected she'd actually do it, of course - James had thought she wouldn't want to lower her social status by being seen with a third class man, and Sirius had assumed that Lucius would stop her from going to see him.

"Of course I'm sure...I - I think she's looking for you, mate," Sirius replied after a moment. "She wouldn't be looking for me because I'm - "

"Not supposed to be here!" James interrupted, his shock instantly replaced by panic. "Shit! Quick, Padfoot! Hide!"

"What? Where?"

"Where do you think? Get under the table!"

There was a bit of scuffling and cursing from Sirius as James grabbed him by the neck of his suit, pulled him off his chair (making a lot more noise then intended), and shoved him under the table. After he had finally decided on a facial expression, Jack observed this with a raised eyebrow - as if he was suddenly wondering how mad the British people actually were - and quickly scooted over to another chair to avoid hitting or kicking Sirius on accident.

"Now stay there until she leaves!"

"You mean if she - "

"Shut up!"

James ignored the threatening glare Sirius sent him (which wasn't too threatening as it usually was for the sender was shoved under a table and in what looked like a very uncomfortable position) and quickly straightened up. He barely had time to place the empty chair back in its spot, and straighten his clothes, when he heard Lily's voice from over his shoulder.

"Mr. Potter?"

James turned around, preparing to seem like he was surprised to see her there, but found that he didn't need to act.

Lily was stunning, even more so than he had thought before. Maybe it was because she wasn't crying...or maybe that she looked like an angel compared to the rest of the surrounding passengers. Whatever it was, it took his breath away.

"...Hullo again, Miss Evans," he replied, after regaining most of his senses. He smiled, and rose to greet her.

"I was wondering...If I could have a talk with you," she continued pleasantly. She looked nervous, as though she wasn't quite used to having a whole room stare rather unflatteringly at her. "A private talk, that is."

"Er...Yes, of course. After you."

He motioned her ahead, and followed. He glanced over his shoulder at Remus with one eyebrow raised in surprise, as he walked past him with her, and left the general room, leaving a stunned group of third class passengers behind him.

***

James and Lily had been wandering about the Boat Deck for quite some time, and Lily's shoes were beginning to pinch her feet most painfully. The silence between the two of them was getting to be almost unbearable. They hadn't talked since they had left the steerage area, unless James's comment about how the first class area smelled nicer than the steerage area counted.

She had tried to start a conversation with him many times, but she just couldn't get the words to come out. Her goal had been to at least thank him before they went off to lunch, but how exactly does one go about thanking the man that had saved one's life?

James didn't seem too eager to start a chat either. He seemed to be enjoying the view of Ireland rather than trying to do the polite thing, and pursue a conversation with her.

If this was going to continue any longer, she might as well tell him to go back to steerage and that she'd fetch him tomorrow. She was about to open her mouth and do so, but James - seeming to read her mind - finally broke the silence.

"Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?"

"Oh...Yes. Yes, it is," Lily answered lightly. Though she was slightly disappointed about the topic - weather of all things - at least they were talking now.

"Usually it's a bit chillier at this time of year. I suppose it'll get cooler as we go along. Iceberg season's just about over with too, if I remember correctly."

"Have you been on a sea voyage before, Mr. Potter?" she asked, staring at him curiously out of the corner of her eye.

"Never as a passenger. I was a deck hand on a couple of tramp steamers about two years ago. Had a few crossings, and then I decided I was better off working on the main land, so I moved back to London." James explained, shoving his hands in his pockets, and moving quickly aside as a ship officer strutted past them. "I did all sorts of odd jobs when I was younger...Never found a career that suited me, even though Hogwarts was supposed to help with that."

"Is that why you're going to America?" Lily asked, and James shrugged carelessly.

"I suppose so. There's probably a better chance of me getting a job I actually like in America than back in England, though I don't think I'll get the job I want, unless Dumbledore puts in a good word in for me."

"It must be terribly hard to leave your home and family like that."

"It's not too hard. The only home I've really had was Hogwarts, and I've already left that for good, so there's no going back. And I don't have any blood family left either - my mum and dad are dead, and I don't know any of my other relatives. The only family I have left are my mates, and they're coming with me, so it's not like I'm leaving much behind," James clarified. "I think I'll miss the scenery the most, not London's though. I'm glad to be rid of that."

"London's not too bad compared to some of the places I've visited. Take Malfoy Manor, for instance. Dreadful place." Lily made a face, and a smile spread across James's lips. "The manor looks nice on the outside, but it's dark and dreary on the inside. I've asked Lucius a dozen times if we could lighten the place up, but everything's either too old or too valuable to be removed. He's awfully protective over family heirlooms."

"What's it like living with that anyway?"

Lily didn't even bother telling James off for the insult on Lucius like she should have done. She knew perfectly well that many of the lower classes despised her fiancée - partly because he was unpleasant towards them all the time and partly because he supported a lot of new bills pending (none had been passed so far) in Parliament that eliminated virtually all their rights - and that it would probably make her very unpopular with James if she defended him. Besides, she was still rather mad at Lucius for yesterday, and it'd be hypocritical of her to correct James when he was saying exactly what she was thinking.

"We're not living together yet. It'd look very improper, and my sister, Petunia, hates it when our family's being the one gossiped about at tea rather than someone else's. He comes to call nearly every day, though, and we spend a lot of time together..." Lily explained, twisting her engagement ring around her finger nervously, something she always did now when Lucius or the wedding was brought up with someone other than Petunia or Sirius. "It's been getting rather tiresome as of late. Running back and forth from London to the Manor, looking over the wedding details, dealing with his horrible companions...

"Of course, I think that's why Lucius booked us on Titanic - to make me feel better. But I can't feel better when he's always around, spying on me, making sure I act like a prefect little lady...I'd feel perfectly fine if I could just get away from him for a few days!"

They had stopped by a rail between two lifeboats. James was leaning on the rail, listening to her intently, and holding on to one of the funnel stay cords as he did so. He observed her from behind his glasses for a moment, before asking quietly,

"Is that why you were hanging off the back of this ship last night?"

Finally, they had reached the topic she had wanted to talk about first thing. But once it had been brought up, she didn't know what to say. She stared out at the approaching port of Queenstown, contemplating for a moment.

"I - I...You have to understand. It wasn't just Lucius that I was so sick of...It was everything about my life. I just felt so trapped with them...They were suffocating me with their rules...It was like I was standing in the middle of a room, screaming at the top of my lungs, but no one bothered to look up. They were planning and running my life without my consent...and I just had to get away...So I ran. I ran and ran until I there was no more ship left, and then I climbed...I suppose that's when you showed up." She looked over at him, glad to see that he was listening. "...I'd like to thank you for what you did, Mr. Potter."

"Please. Call me James. 'Mr. Potter' makes me sound important."

"All right, James." Lily cracked a small grin before her face became sombre again. "I'd like to thank you for not just pulling me back, but for your...discretion. If Lucius had any clue of what I really had been doing, he would've kept a closer eye on me than before, and that would've really sent me over the edge."

"Then I'm glad I lied, if it saved us from having to do a repeat of that incident. Pardon, Lily, but I nearly broke my back trying to pull you back up," James said with a small grin.

"I'm not that heavy!" Lily exclaimed with mock indignation. She smiled back at him, just so he didn't think he had offended her. "Besides, it was probably this - " she trust her left hand at James, " - that weighed me down so."

James took her hand in his, and openly gaped at the stone on her ring finger.

"Jesus Christ, that's huge! No wonder it felt like I was dragging up a ton of rocks - this must weigh a ton! If I had let you go, you would've gone straight to the bottom!"

"Well it's a good thing you held on, isn't it?" Lily laughed, watching in amusement as James bent in a bit closer to get a better look at her ring.

"I've seen a lot of jewellery in my life, and this by far has to be the most extravagant ring I've ever seen...Malfoy family heirloom, perhaps?"

Before Lily could answer, there was a resounding 'whap!', and James let go of her hand with a yelp. Lily looked up quickly, and found Lucius standing across from them, Snape hovering behind him. He was lowering his cane, and glaring at James suspiciously.

"It is a family heirloom, for your information, but I suggest you keep your grimy paws away from it...unless you want to have another encounter with the Master at Arms so soon after your last one," Lucius instructed coldly, and James glared back at him, shoving his hurt hand into his pocket. He then turned to Lily, and his tone changed immediately. "There you are, darling. I've just come to tell you that we're meeting your sister for lunch in the Café Parisian in about - " he pulled out his pocket watch, " - twenty minutes. Vernon should have disembarked by that time, and do try to be on time for once. You know Tom doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Yes, Lucius," Lily replied, a forced smile on her face.

"Good."

Lucius nodded his approval, observed the two of them closely for a moment, before walking away. Snape sneered smugly at James before tagging after Lucius. Lily glanced around the lifeboat to make sure they were far enough way before she spoke again.

"Are you all right, James?"

"I'm fine," James hissed, pulling his hand out of his pocket. There was an angry red welt running along the top, and two small trails of blood were making their way down the sides.

"Oh, I am so sorry."

"Don't be. You don't have to apologise for him." James replied, rubbing his hand experimentally.

"He shouldn't have done that...That was going too far, even for him - Don't do that!" James had been ready to wipe his bloody hand on his jacket, but Lily's exclamation stopped him. "Here - I'll help."

She opened the small purse she had been carrying and pulled out an embroidered handkerchief. She gingerly took his hand in hers again, and began to wrap the handkerchief around his hand.

"What's he got on that cane? Fangs?"

"Close. There's a snake's head perched on the grip. I believe it's a family heirloom too," Lily replied darkly, tying the handkerchief at the top of his hand. "There! Good as new!"

She glanced up at him, and smiled softly. He returned the smile, and their hands lingered together longer than necessary before Lily hesitantly pulled hers away.

"You're right; it is as good as new...although it is much more fancier than before," James joked, flexing his bandaged hand experimentally. "Pity you had to ruin a perfectly good handkerchief on one of my 'grimy paws'."

"It's not a problem. I have many more where that came from," she replied, shrugging carelessly. "Petunia won't notice if one goes missing...Hopefully."

They stared at each other again, and an awkward pause settled on them. Trust Lucius to ruin the good conversation they had going. After a few minutes, James broke the silence once more.

"Well...I suppose you should start heading off to that café. Wouldn't want dear old Lucius to get upset, would we?"

"No, but I have plenty of time. I'll escort you back to the steerage area."

"I'm the gentleman here, so I think I'll be the one doing the escorting," James replied, playfully sticking out his elbow. Lily didn't know what made her do it, but she looped arms with him. He looked surprised at her daring, but it didn't seem to bother them one bit as they set off toward the stern, arm-in-arm.

"So would you like to meet after you get down with your fancy luncheon? I have a feeling that you wanted to talk to me about a bit more than the weather - "

***

"Lucius, I don't think it was a very wise idea to leave Miss Lily in the company of that steerage man, and alone too for that matter," Snape suggested, trailing behind Lucius as they continued on their way along the Boat Deck.

"And why not? Unlike my fellow first class passengers, the only threat that man poses is to my valuables," Lucius replied in a bored tone. "He's steerage, after all, Severus. Besides, I think it's best that Lily speaks with one of the rats - it's better she learns first hand what vermin the lot of them are."

"James Potter isn't an ordinary sewer rat," Snape explained, his tone venomous. "He went to school at the same time as me, and I know what he's capable of."

"You also know what I'm capable of, and I needn't remind you of that." Lucius nodded cordially to a passing couple. "If I saw Potter as a threat to me or my fiancée - which I obviously don't - I would've had him arrested last night, despite Lily's little tale. No, Potter is nothing more than a common thief; he's after - if anything - my money, not anything else."

"Sir, once Potter gets an absurd idea in his thick skull, nothing will stop him from fulfilling it."

"Severus, Severus," Lucius clucked, sounding exasperated. "The Potter boy has nothing. If he was scheming to somehow steal Lily away from me, she'd never go along with him. I have everything she could possibly need and want; what could a poundless, gutter rat have that I don't?"

Snape didn't trust himself to answer that question. Lucius must have taken his silence as a silence of agreement rather than a silence of hesitation.

"Knew you'd come to your senses. After all, what's the worst that this James Potter could do?"

Once again, Snape felt it best if he didn't answer that question.